Catching up with Stars GM Jim Nill about the state of the Central, trade winds, Mikko Rantanen and much more

I caught up with Nill on Tuesday night while he was in Detroit to watch Red Wings-Islanders.

As of this morning, the top three teams in the NHL all reside in the Central Division.

The Colorado Avalanche are the best team in the league, ripping off an impressive 55 points in just 33 games. The Dallas Stars are in second with 49 points in 34 games, while the Minnesota Wild, who recently acquired Quinn Hughes, have the league’s third-best point total with 45 points in 34 games.

Because of the divisional nature of the NHL playoff format, it’s highly likely the Stars and Wild will meet in the first round of the playoffs.

For many, myself included, it highlights a flaw in the NHL playoff format — give me a re-seeded format and go back to 1 through 8 in each conference — while Stars general manager Jim Nill has simply embraced the challenge of it all.

“I think it’s great, it makes you better, it makes you a better team,” Nill said. “Really, it’s something that we’ve been through the past three or four years, we’ve had elite teams we’ve had to test ourselves against. Vegas, Colorado twice, it makes you better, and I think that’s something you can’t overly worry about.”

That’s one of several topics I chatted with Nill about Tuesday night while he was in Detroit scouting the game between the Detroit Red Wings and New York Islanders.